ATLANTA — Georgia Medicaid recipients are likely to find outdated directories for doctors, therapists and other medical providers as the state finds thousands of them have failed to revalidate their eligibility to receive payment for services.
Nearly 8,000 faced suspension starting this month, according to a state report in June that noted more than 60,000 others could follow in coming months.
The revalidation deadlines come as some providers are threatening to voluntarily exit the networks of CareSource and Peach State Health Plan, two of Georgia’s three Medicaid managed care organizations for pediatric services.
The organizations have contracts with the state that give them a fixed amount of money for each Medicaid recipient who enrolls with them. In turn, they must ensure their enrollees receive the medical care required under federal law.
Critics say CareSource and Peach State may be unable to follow through on their end of the bargain
The companies shocked pediatric therapy providers last spring by alerting them of 20% rate cuts. They said they would be cutting reimbursements to 80% of the Medicaid fee schedule. Therapists who reject CareSource’s rate cut were told they would be ejected from the organization’s network. That could eliminate access to care for many Georgia families, especially in rural areas that already have a dearth of providers.
The cost-cutting moves led to a hearing last week by a committee of the Georgia House of Representatives.
The Department of Community Health oversees the managed care organizations’ contracts. Lynnette Rhodes, the agency’s chief health policy officer, did not say at that hearing how many providers had quit CareSource’s network as a result of the rate cuts, but she said the agency was getting reports from the organization about it. She also said the revalidation process would eventually clarify how many remain.
“It will give real clarity in terms of which providers are actually operating and where,” she said. “It’s been quite some time since we have completed that process in Georgia.”
Jesse Weathington, an industry lobbyist, fielded some questions from angry lawmakers. He said the rate cuts were probably a reaction to rapidly rising demand for pediatric therapy, which he said increased by 62% from 2018 to 2025, with demand for autism care rising more like 300%.
Weathington speculated that the growth was driven by increasing awareness and diagnosis.
He said the organizations can renegotiate payment terms with the state each year.
“But we still have a commitment,” he said. “We have to make sure that a member gets seen.” Republicans and Democrats on the panel were not happy with the situation. They started getting calls about the rate cuts from constituents soon after their regular legislative session ended in early April.
“The excuse is ‘well, we didn’t anticipate this growth,'” said Rep. Jesse Petrea, R-Savannah, a member of the House Health Committee. “Well, that’s your job to anticipate the demand and the need for services.”
The committee met on June 23, after lawmakers returned to the Capitol for a special session.
Rhodes told the committee that state Medicaid contractors had authority to unilaterally cut payment rates and terminate providers and that providers knew that when they signed up to be in their networks. She said it was standard practice across the country.
She said it was the duty of managed care organizations to pay for necessary care, even if it meant sending patients out of their networks or paying higher rates on a case-by-case basis.
Providers who spoke at the hearing predicted that the cuts would trigger clinic closures while undermining savings from the rate cuts by triggering higher out-of-network bills.
“Pediatric therapy providers have struggled for a long time. They’re at a breaking point due to this recent notification of rate reductions,” said Margaret Ann Parker, founder of Speech Therapy Services in Southwest Georgia. “If these cuts move forward, clinics will close and we are already seeing this happen.”
Parker said her clinic serves patients from five nearby counties that already lack therapy providers, calling those communities a “therapy desert.”
Federal law requires care organizations to prove their ability to provide all required services when they make deep rate cuts. It then falls on the state to assure compliance.
Roland Behm, a health policy advocate, wrote a memo to lawmakers on the panel that said Georgia had given CareSource about $2.3 billion in Medicaid money in fiscal year 2025. In the memo, which he shared with Capitol Beat News Service, Behm questioned whether the state was getting its money’s worth from contractors for Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids, the state health care program for uninsured children.
“The issue is not the rate cut alone,” he wrote. “The issue is whether Georgia is still buying real access to medically necessary care for its Medicaid and PeachCare enrollees, approximately 70% of whom are under the age of 21.”
Neal Jacobovits, who serves on the board of the Autism Families Alliance, said in a statement to Capitol Beat this week that the rate cuts will cause some families to experience delayed care or even lose access altogether. He said an increase in diagnoses should not reduce access for the families Medicaid is supposed to serve.
“Parents grappling with a new autism diagnosis will be forced to navigate even longer waitlists for care,” he said, “and those in rural communities where services are already limited may be left wondering if they can access any care at all.”
ATLANTA — Georgia public school teachers have mostly found artificial intelligence to be a time-saving tool that makes them better at their jobs, but they say it is more of a burden than a benefit for students.
In a survey this spring that drew responses from 13,679 teachers in 150 of Georgia’s 180 school districts, the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts found widespread use of generative AI among teachers with six to 20 years of experience and in core subjects except math.
Nearly 60% said they offload some work to the technology, with 89% of them reporting positive outcomes. They said it allowed them to create higher-quality instructional materials aligned with state requirements and tailored to student learning styles — and that it saved them time.
“I believe using AI for creating assignments, visual aids, and other instructional material is very beneficial,” one teacher wrote. “I enjoy that I can make material based on what my class needs are.”
They also used AI to write letters to parents, but few said the technology was helpful for tracking student progress, with 62% saying they never used it for grading.
They also were generally dubious about student use of AI.
Use of the technology is rare among elementary school students but increasingly popular as students age, with nearly a third of middle school students and just over half of high school students using it, according to the teachers.
They said students used AI for tutoring, feedback, brainstorming and studying, and that the tool was more popular for students in science and social studies.
Teachers were concerned that students were more likely to cheat by plagiarizing work with AI. They also said they were concerned the technology would reduce student interaction and collaboration, ultimately undermining how much they were learning and their ability to think critically.
Some teachers redesigned assignments to allow for AI use.
But many reported that they had effectively subdued the technology with strategies such as in-class writing, with some using applications or software to check whether their students had used it.
Some rejected it altogether, especially in elementary school, where writing and reading skills are foundational.
One teacher wrote that AI use was unethical. Another wrote that “studies have proven that it lowers intellectual ability!”
The state survey follows other research, such as a national report by the RAND Corporation in September that found just over half of students and teachers in three core subjects were using AI. The study noted few guardrails, with policy guidance lacking, calling the use of the technology in education “a fast-moving, real-time social experiment at scale.”
In Georgia though, about two-thirds of responding teachers said they received guidance or training, with most saying it was effective. However, that support was less likely in districts with higher poverty rates.
ATLANTA — New state laws take effect Wednesday, bringing new mandates that will change life for Georgians in both obvious and unseen ways.
The laws that were passed this year and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp will affect everything from health and housing to safety and schooling.
There are new laws concerning religion, relationships and a child named Rio. Some were controversial and some were unifying.
Here are highlights of laws that take effect on July 1, 2026.
Consumers
Pennies are only for thoughts, after the U.S. Mint decided copper was too valuable to forge into coins destined for the bottom of fountains. House Bill 1112, which passed the state Senate unanimously and the House nearly so, requires merchants to round cash transactions at the register to the nearest nickel when customers lack exact change.
Senate Bill 439 regulates referral agencies for senior services, requiring them to disclose potential conflicts of interest by revealing relationships they have with the assisted living communities or personal care homes that they are recommending. Covered relationships include payments, ownership shares and other arrangements that could bias referrals. Enforcement falls to the state attorney general.
Development
Senate Bill 447 seeks to reduce development costs by expediting local building inspections. It gives local governments two days to notify applicants of deficiencies in their permit applications and requires more clarity around reasons for denial. The law also sets a January 2028 deadline for certain localities to establish websites with real-time permit tracking.
Drugs
Patients who have a prescription for medical marijuana can now get stronger and faster-acting doses. Senate Bill 220 lifts the state’s limit on THC content in medical marijuana and lets patients vape for faster relief. Georgia had a low adoption rate among the 42 states with medical marijuana programs, with about 34,500 registered patients and 2,200 registered caregivers when the Legislature was in session in the spring.
Education
Senate Bill 556 establishes a state-funded college scholarship for Georgia students from low-income households. The DREAMS Scholarship will begin disbursing aid in the fall from $325 million in state seed money. The program ends Georgia’s distinction as one of only two states in the nation without a need-based college scholarship.
Lawmakers also expanded a nearly two-decade-old program that funnels taxpayer dollars to primary and secondary students attending a private school. House Bill 328 increases the annual total cap on tax credits for contributions to Georgia’s student scholarship organizations to $150 million. The organizations allocate a portion of their proceeds to students in payments that the state calls scholarships but that critics call vouchers.
The new law also relaxes eligibility for some, exempting military families and students with intellectual or developmental disabilities from the requirement that they first enroll in a low-performing public school. That is the general eligibility requirement for students entering the program after first grade.
Donors who give money for scholarships can get all of it back as a credit off their state taxes. The statewide cap was $120 million, up from $50 million when lawmakers created the scholarships in 2008.
Senate Bill 150 extends a program that helps public schools fill teacher shortages by paying retired teachers in high-demand areas to return to the classroom while collecting their pensions. The program was to expire Wednesday but will now continue another four years.
Senate Bill 552, the True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act, honors slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk by using the same acronym as the organization he founded, Turning Point USA. It requires equal access to public school facilities for student meetings, prohibiting denial of access for political or ideological reasons.
Homeownership
Residents in neighborhoods governed by condominium and homeowner associations are getting new rights from Senate Bill 406. Most of the mandates for accountability and transparency in the levy of fees and fines — and for limitations on foreclosures — will take effect in January. But a section regulating the associations’ authority to extract attorney’s fees from homeowners in payment disputes is now in effect, requiring review by judges in bench trials.
Religion
Imams, ministers, priests, rabbis and other clergy members now risk prison if they have sex with someone with whom they have a “pastoral counseling or spiritual authority relationship.” Senate Bill 542 establishes penalties, from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, with exceptions for married couples.
The concept is similar to existing laws that prohibit sexual relationships involving an authority figure when there is a power imbalance. For instance, sexual encounters between school employees and students are forbidden, as are such relationships between parole officers and their charges, hospital employees and patients, psychotherapists and their clients, police and those they arrest, and correctional officers and inmates with a disability.
Safety
Mason Sells was 20 when his heart stopped during an intramural soccer match at Mercer University two years ago. His death, which was caused by a soccer ball kicked to his chest, led to Senate Bill 399. The Mason Sells AED Coordination Act requires everyone with an automated external defibrillator to notify 911 of its location. It also gives 911 operators until the end of next year to get trained in how to coach callers to use the devices and to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Senate Bill 433 establishes a specialty license plate for people with autism or a developmental disability. Rio’s Law, named after a boy with autism, also requires training for police to avoid escalations during encounters with people who have those conditions.
Senate Bill 443 increases the financial exposure for protesters who block streets by enhancing the charge for the offense from a misdemeanor to a high and aggravated misdemeanor. Those convicted could still get up to a year in jail, but now they may also be fined up to $5,000 and could be sued by motorists and others for damages, such as for lost wages or medical costs.
House Bill 1230 makes it a felony to fly a drone over a jail or prison for criminal purposes, authorizing law enforcement agencies and officers to jam, hack and seize the aircraft. The measure is a reaction to the increasing use of unmanned aircraft to deliver drugs, weapons and other contraband to inmates.
ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate is back to full capacity after Adrienne White Carden was sworn in to represent the 7th District in Gwinnett County, the state Senate announced Monday.
The Democrat won the special election to succeed Nabilah Parkes, also a Democrat, on June 16. Parkes resigned during the legislative session to run for lieutenant governor, but lost the June 16 runoff to her former colleague, Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs.
McLaurin had criticized Parkes for quitting ahead of the special session that ended last week, saying Democrats would need all the votes they could muster to counter any redistricting efforts by Republicans and that that she risked a Republican succeeding her.
Parkes pushed back, saying she had endorsed Carden, identified as Adrienne White on the ballot, and was confident she would win the special election to complete Parkes’ term.
Carden did win, but barely, taking just over 51% of the vote against Republican Aizaz Shahbaz Shaikh.
Shaikh remains the Republican nominee for the Nov. 3 general election, when voters will choose the person to occupy the District 7 seat for a full two years starting in January.
Shaikh will face Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth, who won the Democratic nomination in the June 16 runoff.
Although, as Parkes had predicted, Carden won the special election, she did not swear her oath of office until Friday, three days after the special session ended.
It turns out that the timing did not matter for redistricting. Just before the session began two weeks ago, Republicans announced they would not seek to change election boundaries during the special session.
Redistricting had been one reason Gov. Brian Kemp called lawmakers back to the Capitol, but the issue proved too controversial.
Sen. Carden, D-Duluth, will represent District 7 for the next six months.
Carden, an executive at SouthState Bank who is married to Gwinnett County Commissioner Kirkland Carden, said she was ready to work with the Legislature “to support progressive policies and achieve affordability for all Georgians.” She said she looks “forward to continuing to collaborate throughout the legislative interim.”
Her swearing-in restores the state Senate to a full complement of 56 members.
ATLANTA — As Ebola rages in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that country’s national team will play a World Cup match in Georgia Saturday.
The odds of the disease reaching Atlanta are remote given international travel restrictions, but if it did, few other places could match this city’s preparedness — a city that successfully treated two health care workers with Ebola in 2014.
On Wednesday, France confirmed its first case of a new strain of Ebola imported from Congo after a humanitarian doctor fell ill with symptoms midway through a commercial flight from the country’s capital, Kinshasa.
The outbreak, which has infected more than 1,100 people and killed more than 300 in Congo and Uganda, is driven by a rare strain for which there is no vaccine or treatment.
Also on Wednesday, Congo imposed a 21-day quarantine requirement for anyone seeking to travel abroad after returning from an Ebola-affected area.
But the United States had already imposed travel restrictions weeks ahead of the World Cup.
“I think the overall risk to the public is not as high as many may think,” Dr. Gavin Harris, a critical care and serious communicable diseases specialist, said in an interview before Ebola reached France.
Harris, who is with Emory Healthcare, said Atlanta is unusually qualified to handle such a dangerous disease.
Emory has a biocontainment unit and has been collaborating for years with specialists at Grady Memorial Hospital, the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, down the street from the Emory School of Medicine, where Harris is an assistant professor.
In 2014, two American health care workers who were infected while treating Ebola patients in Liberia were isolated and treated at Emory University Hospital. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol were cured.
Emory’s Serious Communicable Disease Unit had been established a dozen years before with help from the CDC, which wanted such a service available for any of its employees who fell ill during overseas assignments.
“We are probably more prepared than a lot of other places are and especially in the metropolitan area of Atlanta,” Harris said.
He said fans attending Saturday’s game between Congo and Uzbekistan or any other FIFA World Cup match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium should be more concerned about domestic diseases.
Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers require close bodily contact to spread, traveling through bodily fluids.
But diseases such as measles, chicken pox and flu can fly quickly through a crowd because, as respiratory viruses, they are airborne.
Harris advised precautions. Those who are immunocompromised should consider wearing a mask, and everyone should practice hand hygiene, using hand sanitizer or soap and water when possible.
Those who arrive home feeling respiratory distress, nausea or feverishness, or who develop a rash, should call for help, Harris said, noting that 911 call takers have been trained to recognize symptoms for serious communicable diseases.
Anyone who thinks they might have the measles should quarantine at home, he said, adding that the disease has been on the rise, in part due to waning rates of immunization.
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation into law Thursday that delays the July 1 ban on the use of QR codes in Georgia’s voting machines.
His signature postpones the prohibition until Jan. 1, 2028, giving lawmakers more time to adopt new election procedures.
Senate Bill 3EX, which passed Tuesday, the last day of the special session, removes Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger from the planning, instead putting lawmakers in charge of recommending a new voting system.
Raffensperger, a Republican who stood firm against President Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, had become a target of GOP lawmakers. They blamed him for sticking with QR codes, and he blamed them for failing to select and pay for an alternative system.
The new law also mandates hand recounts of the top two statewide races on the ballot when the results are within a 0.5% margin.
That requirement entered the bill through a late amendment. Critics contend the wording was rushed and flawed. The amendment, in describing the necessary margin for a recount, declares that the number of votes for the winner of one of those top two races “shall be not more than one-half of 1 percent of the total votes which were cast in such qualified contest.”
The Coalition for Good Governance, an organization that has long pressured the state to stop using QR codes in elections, wrote in a summary of SB 3EX that it literally “outlawed” race results with margins greater than 0.5%.
“While the drafting error will almost certainly be corrected in a future legislative session,” the group wrote, “it serves as a cautionary example of what happens when complicated election legislation is drafted, negotiated, generally behind closed doors, and passed at breakneck speed, with the public and Democrats not permitted to see bill drafts until moments before votes were taken.”
The disputed language from Senate Bill 3EX, signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday, June 25, two days after the Georgia General Assembly passed it during a special session.
Although Democrats largely opposed the measure, Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, voted for it, saying he trusted the Georgia Supreme Court to discern the intent of that language should a losing candidate sue.
McLaurin is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Three Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, II, D-Augusta, voted with him in favor of the bill.
Another 16 Democrats opposed it, including Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, who said he doubted the courts would rule in favor of a Democrat, such as the party’s nominee for governor.
“What happens if Keisha Lance Bottoms comes up on top and it’s by 0.2%?” Kemp said. “I cannot support a bill that we already know has incorrect language in it.”
McLaurin alleged that his opponent for lieutenant governor, Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, had secretly worked to sabotage the legislation on behalf of QR code opponents who believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. McLaurin said the final version of the bill was “a little clunky” but that it needed to pass to avoid pandemonium during the November midterms.
McLaurin said there were “election deniers in the hallway who are all saying the same thing: don’t fix the problem. … But dear God, we have to fix this problem.”
Dolezal did not stand to rebut McLaurin’s allegation about sabotage, but Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker, III, R-Perry, did.
He said Dolezal had been an “honest broker” in support of the bill and that McLaurin’s allegation that Dolezal had tried to whip up votes against it were “patently false.”
